The Colts Have The Greatest 2-14 Season Of All Time

Top and bottom of the NFL

Receive the latest sports updates in your inbox

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 27: Reggie Wayne #87 of the Indianapolis Colts catches a pass while defended by R.J. Stanford #25 of the Carolina Panthers at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 27, 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Power rankings. You hate them. They’re so arbitrary and pointless, especially when they include all 32 NFL teams. All you want to know after a good week of NFL action is who the bestest team in the NFL right now, and which one is the absolute barrel-scraping worst. That’s why we have TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE NFL, where we go to great lengths to tell you who’s the top dog in football right now, this very minute. LET’S GO!

THE TOP: Green Bay Packers

Any of you people following Skip Bayless' lead and labeling Aaron Rodgers a "system quarterback" can go ahead and dunk your head in a shark tank right now. Go away. Forever.

THE BOTTOM: Indianapolis Colts

This was the single greatest 2-14 season of all time. The Colts had won ten-plus games for NINE STRAIGHT YEARS before this season, which is an insane achievement in today's NFL. With that kind of track record, you could have forgiven owner Jim Irsay for chalking this season up as a horrible anomaly and kept on with the same people who have been running the Colts for the past few years (GM Bill Polian, QB Peyton Manning, coach Jim Caldwell). Instead, Irsay took bold action, giving Polian the gate yesterday, with Manning and Caldwell likely next on the block. It's insane to think that everything could fall apart so quickly. But make no mistake, this is a BLESSING. How many times have you seen a franchise go downhill gradually because they were loyal to their core people? Look at Dallas. They haven't won anything and yet they're STILL loyal to Tony Romo. Look at Philly. They haven't won a Super Bowl and they're STILL keeping Andy Reid around to torture Eagles fans for the rest of time. People always hang around too long in the NFL, and it's not always easy to clean house.

But a 2-14 record gave Irsay the freedom to do that. The 2-14 record allowed Irsay to tear it all down NOW, instead of watching it fall apart again and again for the next few years. The Colts will hire a new GM, who will hire a new coach and presumably draft Andrew Luck, and suddenly the next decade will be secured. How often does an organization get the chance to move on so quickly and decisively? I think this is one of the most amazing things to happen to an NFL team in a long time.